Two Hundred Years and Counting!

Fort Vancouver Pipe Band

     I can’t resist grand celebrations, especially when they involve people and places dear to my heart.  When Oysterville celebrated their centennial in 1954, the Espy family was in the thick of the planning and speech-making.  My mother got costumes together for my two Stanford roommates and we participated in all of the festivities with enthusiasm.
     In 1976, Oysterville was again in the thick of things.  My mother had spent the first four years of her retirement arranging and organizing the celebration which was held here for the entire peninsula.  Every service club, every community group from Megler to Leadbetter Point was involved and that time I was actually the Mistress of Ceremonies!
     Most recently, in 2004, Oysterville celebrated their sesquicentennial.  That time Nyel was Master of Ceremonies and also, under his “generalship” The Honorary Oysterville Militia led off the festivities with the firing of their 1841 replica mountain howitzer.  It was a grand celebration!
     Here in Oysterville we have also celebrated the centennial of the church (in 1992) and the centennial of the schoolhouse (in 2007).  And, in a way, we foreshadowed the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial celebration by hosting a House Concert introducing Jeffrey Reynolds and Andrew Emlen as the undaunted explorers, themselves.  (They’ve been playing those roles periodically ever since, their latest performance being at the Liberty Theater in Astoria last Thursday evening.)
     So, with all those centennials – sesqui, bi, and otherwise! – under our belts, it was a no-brainer to head across the river yesterday to clap and cheer for our Astoria neighbors as they got their year of bicentennial celebrations officially underway.  We had a great time, misty-moisty weather notwithstanding.
     We toured the tents at the heritage fair, sampled ethnic foods, watched the smithy working at his anvil, and visited with friends from both sides of the river.  We also waited in vain for the canoe exhibition race featuring the Chinook Nation and other Northwest Native nations, but it didn’t happen.  Cancelled, we were told, as one group conceded to the other.  But we suspected that the nasty wind and resulting chop on the river was the basic reason.
     It was a great day all around.  My favorite part had to be the pipers from Fort Vancouver (which was once Fort George right where Astoria is now).  We watched and listened to them (and wept, of course—why do the pipes always bring tears?) as we ate our lunch at the Rio Café.  I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate!

One Response to “Two Hundred Years and Counting!”

  1. Stephanie Frieze says:

    I wish we would have had time to do that, Sydney. I love the hoopla of a party and am still considering having a 130th birthday party for our house this year even though we haven’t made all the improvements we’d like to. Of course it won’t involve a parade, but it could involve eating, hopefully out-of-doors!

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